The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 – 60 years later

On Thursday afternoon 16 March, the Embassy of Hungary presented the short documentary ‘The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 – 60 years later, The 1956 Commemoration Season in the Netherlands’ to dozens of special invitees in The Hague. The documentary was made by the Netherlands based Hungarian filmmaker Csaba Bogádi and reflects upon eleven events that were organized throughout the Netherlands from August to November 2016 and attended by over 7000 visitors.

Like the short documentary, the aim of the extensive program organized by the Embassy of Hungary in collaboration with various partners, was to commemorate the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and transfer the knowledge and experiences of this historic event to younger generations. In the documentary, four key figures of the 1956 Commemoration Season reflect upon the four concerts, three conferences, two exhibitions and the national commemoration ceremony that took place in the fall of 2016.

The presentation on 16 March 2017 was attended by partners who made the 1956 Commemoration Season possible. The Embassy of Hungary also invited the Dutch athletes who could not participate in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. It was boycotted by the Netherlands in solidarity with the Hungarian people. The Dutch athletes previously took part in a program specially organized for them in Budapest, together with the Swiss and Spanish athletes who did not go to Melbourne in 1956.

In the autumn of 2016, it was exactly 60 years ago that the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight was brutally crushed down by the Soviet Union. With the theme “new heroes are born where they are not forgotten”, the Hungarian government established a memorial board that funded the worldwide commemoration of the Revolution in 2016.

The programs in which the Embassy of Hungary in the Netherlands was involved, were made possible by the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight 60th Anniversary Memorial Board.